Pretty soon, we might have to refer to him as Doctor Kanye West.
In May, the rapper and producer is set to receive a honorary doctorate from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, one of the country’s most prestigious art schools.
The institution’s dean of faculty and vice president of academic administration, Lisa Wainwright, told the Chicago Tribune that the decision was made after reading an interview with West in which he said he wished he attended SAIC.
“I read it and thought, ‘Wow, this is a fantastic moment.’ Here is this major figure in the cultural landscape promoting art school, this guy from Chicago saying art school is cool. So we thought, ‘This man deserves an honorary doctorate from us!’ He should have gone here. He would have been a perfect SAIC student — he likes to shake people out of complacency.”
West did briefly attend art school at Chicago’s American Academy of Art before moving to Chicago State University to study English, so he does have some experience in academia. Of course, the name of his first album was The College Dropout, which might provide some indication of how his time in higher education went.
As you might guess, not everyone is a fan of this. SAIC alumnus Corinna Kirsch, editor of art magazine Art F City, wrote that she was “offended that the school’s exorbitant tuition and fees will help fund this nonsense.” She later told the Tribune that it comes off as a gimmick because SAIC has no music program. But SAIC has awarded honorary degrees to the likes of Patti Smith and David Sedaris in the past, so this isn’t necessarily unprecedented.
SAIC’s commencement ceremonies are on May 11.
